Which Top 3 CONCACAF team will get to the Round of 16 in the World Cup?

This year’s FIFA World Cup will see one of the greatest years for representation of North & Central American, as well as Caribbean nations. The countries that inhabit this region battled it out in what is known as the CONCACAF qualifiers, from which three teams, Canada, Mexico, and the USA advanced to the World Cup.

Out of these three CONCACAF teams, which will go the furthest, and which will not making it through the group stage?

How far will Canada go?

As the team that finished the top of the CONCACAF qualifiers, North and Central Americans, as well as soccer fans from the nations in the Caribbean, may expect that the Canadians will go the furthest.

The truth of the matter is that how far a team may or may not go is highly dependent on the teams that they will be facing. Canada, for example, will be battling it out in one of the most stacked groups in the competition, and would do exceptionally well to make it past the group stages.

Canada has to contend with Belgium, Croatia, and Morocco. If any of the teams in this group put a foot wrong, they may have a hard time rallying to make it to a favourable position in the round of 16. Canada is currently ranked number 41 in the world, and have to contest with the team ranked number 2 (Belgium), the team ranked number 12 (Croatia), and the team ranked number 22 (Morocco). According to the odds found on this list of betting sites in Canada, Canada are not expected to make it past the group stages.

How far will USMNT go?

The USA might be in pole position to go the furthest out of the teams that have qualified from the CONCACAF qualifiers. Currently, USMNT is ranked at number 16 on the World FIFA rankings. The only team that is ranked above them in the group they have been placed in is England (5), who have somehow not dropped drastically after a poor run of form.

England haven’t managed to score a goal in their last few games, and an injury list currently suggests that the going will not be easy in the World Cup. A strong Welsh contingent also features in this group, and while Wales have been given a ranking (19) that is not as good as USA’s, their matchup will tell much in terms of which of these sides really is the better.

The final team to make up Group B is IR Iran, a nation that has been given a ranking of 20 on the World Rankings list. While Iran may not be taken as a serious contender, the USA will need to treat them with respect if they hope to go the furthest amongst the qualifiers from the CONCACAF nations. All this said, USA is looking most likely to make it to the round of 16.

Will Mexico make it past the group stage?

Mexico features in another tricky group that will prove to be very difficult to get through. According to the World FIFA rankings, only one team, Argentina, are given a better FIFA ranking than them, which is expected. Argentina are expected to win the group, and even challenge for the title.

The group also consists of Saudi Arabia (51) and Poland (26). On paper, Mexico should pass through the group. Perhaps not easily, but a loss would to Poland would be felt to be an upset, and a lost to Saudi Arabia would feel like a glaring upset.

Along with the USA, Mexico is in pole position to make it to the round of 16.